Monday, August 18, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Fantasy Books Aylee Has Been Telling me to Read

Top Ten Books People Have Been Telling You That You MUST Read (whether because they think it's a "you" book or it's just been generally recommended so often)

I am SO excited about this week's topic! I can barely contain how excited I am.

This week, Aylee from Recovering Potter Addict and I have decided to collaborate. The two of us have pretty different reading tastes- she's pretty high fantasy and I tend to lean more contemporary. There are a number of books we have been trying to get the other to read. I don't know how many times I begged her to read John Green before her Great John Green Read of 2014 and she has mentioned Patrick Ness to me more times then I can count. There are a few more that I have insisted she read, and you can head over to her blog post to see that list.

This week's list, is her list for me. I hope you enjoy. It was SO MUCH FUN doing this.-Stay tuned to the end for a special announcement.

1. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness– I think Sara will appreciate the beauty of this one. It’s essentially a contemporary with fantasy undertones so I think this would be a good start to ease Sara into the genre.

2. Coraline by Neil Gaiman – Quick and easy read with all of the whimsy and creepiness of a Neil Gaiman read. This book kind of terrified me (as did the movie) even though it’s technically a children’s book, so it might be a good Hallowe’en read.

3. Night of Cake & Puppets by Laini Taylor– I know Sara has enjoyed the first two books in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy so I’m keen on her reading one of my all-time favourite novellas, featuring some of my all-time favourite secondary characters, Zuzanna and Mik. This one is SO wonderful that I can’t imagine anyone not loving it!

4. The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas – I know that Sara recently read and loved Throne of Glass and I am positively ADAMANT that everyone who reads that must also read this collection of prequel novellas, as they are utterly fantastic.

5. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater – This one was such a powerful and meaningful book for me so it holds a special place in my heart. I hope Sara enjoys it too!

6. The Archived by Victoria Schwab – This one had an entirely unique concept, which is so rare in books these days. Furthermore, it was an especially well executed concept in a well-written plot. Can be read as a standalone.

7. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers – This one might be more of a challenge because it can be quite heavy on historical politics, but it’s absolutely worth reading. The ever-present theme of mortality is quite powerful and Ismae is an amazing protagonist. Can be read as a standalone.

8. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey – Another challenging read, but also entirely rewarding in my opinion. This one is unlike anything else you will read in any genre. And Rick Yancey is a supremely talented writer. Can be read as a standalone.

9. The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen – This one is kind of like Game of Thrones-lite, so it has plenty of court politics and violence, but is less dense to get through than Game of Thrones. I am really unsure what Sara will think of this one… but it will be a challenge and that’s kind of the point!

10. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness – This is my all-time favourite book after Harry Potter, which if you know me is saying something. The stream of consciousness writing is so effective here that it really brings the protagonist to life. It’s part fantasy, part sci fi, and part dystopian so it’s bound to be a challenge, but the product is pure brilliance.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

So, Aylee and I have decided that we are not stopping with these lists. We have decided to jump in and challenge one another to read these books. Yup, you read right. I am going to dig in and get all ten books read, and she is going to do the same.

Amber from Books of Amber and Judith from Paper Riot started this trend a little while ago, and we both thought it was such a brilliant idea, and we wanted to take part. We have no idea how we're going to document success, what kind of time frame we are looking at, or how we're going to keep each other accountable. But in all honesty there are no hard and fast rules. We're just going to have fun.

19 comments:

Hee! It's true, you did put the bug in my ear about reading John Green quite a few times. It only took a few years to get to them!! X) Next up, Jellicoe Road which you have possibly been on me to read for even longer. I'm both nervous and excited for it! Eeeeeeeee

People have said it's slow and confusing in the beginning. I didn't experience that. Her writing is beautiful and I am sure you'll appreciate that. I am very excited to jump into all of the above titles! I am SO nervous about Monstrumologist though. Eeeeek!

Grave Mercy is very entertaining and absorbing, I really enjoyed that one. Still need to read the second in the series! And A Monster Calls is very well-written, it's simple but effective and the fantasy is used in an interesting way to depict contemporary issues.

Sara, you are going to LOVE Grave Mercy! I haven't read any of the others but thanks to Aylee, I want to give Patrick Ness' books a try in the future. I also have The Queen of the Tearling and The Archived in my TBR pile.

Well, despite being a self acclaimed fantasy lover, I hate to say I have not read any of these books, although a lot of them are on my wishlist/to-read list, so I should really get around to it. I have heard lots of amazing things about Patrick Ness and have in fact the whole Chaos Walking trilogy on my bookshelf, so I really should get around to reading it. I love Aylee's list for you, and I am glad I jumped over to see your blog, it is simply beautiful in the design!

This is kind of weird. I am a HUGE fantasy reader and the only books I've read on this list are Grave Mercy and The Archived haha. Both great books by the way. And by the way I love how you guys did each other's TTT's!